Imagining the Light That Should Have Been

The problem some people face is that they don’t fully understand photographic lighting and therefore can’t build a good mental picture ahead of time of how the final shadow on the image should look. Before doing any retouching, you should have a clear mental picture of the final outcome before you even start to alter the image. Otherwise, you risk failing to create the final look you’re after. It’s like making a movie—you don’t film anything that just happens to come by, but create a storyboard before any shooting takes place so that you know the shots you’ll need in advance.

The first thing you must do before creating a shadow is determine where or what kind of light source would have created the shadow you want. What kind of light source is “present” in your final image? Basically, we have a couple of different potential light scenarios: indoor or studio lighting and outdoor natural lighting.